Practise Stem cells. 12 exam-style questions plus unlimited generated ones on this subtopic, at up to four difficulty levels, with full mark schemes and a progress tracker. Free, no account needed.
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Stem cells are found in animals and plants. Name the tissue in plants that contains stem cells.
meristem
Therapeutic cloning can be used to produce stem cells for a patient. The steps are listed below, but they are not in the correct order.
A Stem cells are removed from the embryo.
B The nucleus is removed from an egg cell from a donor.
C The egg cell divides to form an embryo.
D The nucleus from one of the patient's body cells is put into the egg cell.
E The stem cells are made to differentiate into the type of cell the patient needs.
Write the letters A to E in the correct order.
B, D, C, A, E
Sample questions
Written for this site in the style of AQA exam questions. They are not taken from real past papers.
Question 1Easy4 marks
Stem cells are found in animals and plants.
(a) Which statement describes a stem cell? Tick (✓) one box.[1]
A cell that has no nucleus
A specialised cell that can no longer divide
An undifferentiated cell that can give rise to many more cells of the same type
A cell that is found only in plant stems
(b) Name the tissue in plants that contains stem cells.[1]
(c) Name one type of cell that stem cells from adult bone marrow can form.[1]
(d) Give one medical condition that treatment with stem cells may be able to help.[1]
Show the answer and mark scheme
(a)Answer: An undifferentiated cell that can give rise to many more cells of the same type
(b)Answer: meristem
meristem (tissue)
(c)
blood cells / red blood cells / white blood cells / platelets
(d)
diabetes / paralysis
Question 2Medium5 marks
Stem cells can be taken from human embryos or from adult bone marrow.
(a) Give one difference between stem cells from embryos and stem cells from adult bone marrow.[1]
(b) Describe how therapeutic cloning is used to produce stem cells for a patient. Explain why these stem cells are useful for medical treatment.[3]
(c) Give one risk of using stem cells in medical treatment.[1]
Show the answer and mark scheme
(a)
embryonic stem cells can differentiate into most types of human cell, but adult bone marrow stem cells can form only some types, e.g. blood cells
(b)
an embryo is produced with the same genes as the patient
stem cells are taken from the embryo (and made to differentiate into the cells needed)
the cells are not rejected by the patient's body / immune system
(c)
transfer of a viral infection (to the patient)
Question 3Hard9 marks
A patient has paralysis caused by a damaged spinal cord. Doctors are considering two treatments:
Treatment 1 – stem cells taken from an embryo produced by therapeutic cloning
Treatment 2 – stem cells taken from the patient's own bone marrow.
(a) Evaluate the two treatments. You should give a conclusion.[6]
(b) Scientists grew 2 × 104 embryonic stem cells in a culture. The number of cells doubled every 36 hours. Calculate the number of cells after 9 days. Give your answer in standard form.[3]
Show the answer and mark scheme
(a)
treatment 1: embryonic stem cells can differentiate into most types of cell, including nerve cells
treatment 1: the embryo has the same genes as the patient, so the cells are not rejected
treatment 1: the embryo is destroyed, so some people have ethical or religious objections
treatment 2: the cells are the patient's own, so they are not rejected
treatment 2: fewer ethical objections as no embryo is destroyed / the patient can give consent
treatment 2: bone marrow stem cells can form only some types of cell (e.g. blood cells), so may not form nerve cells
both: risk of transferring a viral infection; treatments are new / not fully tested
conclusion with a reason, e.g. treatment 1 is more likely to repair the spinal cord because the cells can form nerve cells
Marked with levels of response: the full level descriptors are in the app.